Hipster upset his photo was used to claim all hipsters look alike – discovers photo was a different hipster

When he recognized himself in a photo following an article about “all hipsters looking the same,” a hipster got furious. He sent an angry email to MIT Technology Review, but little did he know that he would only prove the theory of the article. When the MIT journal’s editors checked the image license, it turned out that the photo showed a totally different hipster.

On 28 February current year, MIT Technology Review recently published the article titled “The hipster effect: Why anti-conformists always end up looking the same.” It’s a rundown of a Brandeis University’s research paper and illustrated by a photo of a young man wearing a plaid shirt and a beanie.Embed from Getty Images

The man in the photo recognized himself and he got upset for being called a hipster. After all, no hipster likes to be called that way. Gideon Lichfield, the MIT journal’s editor-in-chief, told the story on Twitter about what happened after the article went live. And honestly, it cracked me up.

“We promptly got a furious email from a man who said he was the guy in the photo that ran with the story. He accused us of slandering him, presumably by implying he was a hipster, and of using the pic without his permission. (He wasn’t too complimentary about the story, either.)”

We promptly got a furious email from a man who said he was the guy in the photo that ran with the story. He accused us of slandering him, presumably by implying he was a hipster, and of using the pic without his permission. (He wasn't too complimentary about the story, either.)

“Now, as far as I know, calling someone a hipster isn’t slander, no matter how much they may hate it” Lichfield added. He pointed out that the journal would never use a photo without the proper license or model release. Since the article was illustrated by a stock photo from Getty Images, it was easy to check the license, and so they did. This is where it gets funny.

“Getty checked the model release, and gave us the news: The guy who complained wasn’t even the guy in the picture. He’d misidentified himself,” Lichfield wrote in a tweet. The dude couldn’t recognize himself, for crying out loud! Sorry hipsters, but I’d say that all this proves the theory given in the article and in the paper: hipsters indeed look alike.

P.S. lead image was taken from Pexels, it was tagged “hipster,” don’t blame me if you recognize yourself : )

Clinton Lofthouse is a Photographer, Retoucher and Digital Artist based in the United Kingdom, who specialises in creative retouching and composites. Proud 80's baby, reader of graphic novels and movie geek!
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